This invention relates to screen printing presses in general and, in particular, to a method and apparatus for printing elongated articles.
Screen printing is widely used for printing objects of revolution such as bottles, cans, cones and the like. Various types of screen printers are available to accomplish the printing of three-dimensional objects and many, such as that taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,090,300, utilize an object holder or nest extending outwardly in a perpendicular fashion from the printing press. In such screen printers the screen can be held stationary and the squeegee moved relative to both the screen and the object holder to force the ink through the screen for printing flat objects, or the squeegee may be held stationary against the screen and the screen and peripheral surface of the object may be moved laterally, as when printing objects of circular dimensions. For objects of revolution, e.g., circular items, these elements are coordinated for movement in timed relationship to each other during the printing cycle. Such a timed relationship usually requires that the screen and peripheral surface of the object move at identical linear speeds.
In the past, when printing elongated cylindrical articles such as ski poles, pool cues, thermometers and the like, the article was mounted for rotation on a horizontal holder supported on a cantilever tooling post perpendicular to the primary support shafts of the press while the screen moved laterally across it. In printing such elongated objects, difficulties presented themselves in the feeding of the articles to the holder for printing. These difficulties may be attributed chiefly to the awkward size of the article. For instance, a right-handed worker would have difficulties feeding from the right side of the workholder. Further, the positioning and adjustment of an elongated article must necessarily be made from the side, as the article will preclude the operator from standing directly in front of the workholder, thus making registration and the like a difficult task.